New 'Cloverfield' Movie Pushes Its Release Date Back to February

08/31/2017 04:14 pm EDT

Fans of 2008's found footage monster movie Cloverfield were treated to a big surprise in 2016 when the first trailer for 10 Cloverfield Lane debuted merely weeks ahead of the film's theatrical release. Although the film wasn't a direct continuation of events from the first film, it seemingly existed in the same universe in which aliens had invaded planet earth. Slated to be released later this year was God Particle, the working title of the next film in this shared universe, but Deadline now reports that the film has been pushed back to February 2.

One of the assumed reasons for this shift in release date is that the latest film in the Saw franchise, Jigsaw, has been scheduled to open in the coveted slot of the pre-Halloween weekend. With both films being in the horror/thriller wheelhouse, audiences would be forced to pick one film over the other, and with the Saw franchise having a more passionate fan base after going years without a new installment, a new Cloverfield film might not survive.

Another benefit of moving to February 2 is that, with it being the weekend of the Super Bowl, there are no big releases slated to compete with. Additionally, 10 Cloverfield Lane became a big hit when it was released in March, allowing the film to capitalize on the lack of horror films to compete with. Earlier this year, Get Out also took advantage of the slow genre season, dominating the horror box office for weeks.

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Although the studio has been keeping details about the upcoming film under wraps, a Reddit users claims to have discovered the film's synopsis through a movie survey site, which was described as follows:

"This science-fiction horror thriller is the third film in the Cloverfield monster universe. As a calamitous world war between the United States and the European Union rages, spurred on by an invasion of alien creatures that threatens all of mankind, a group of American astronauts are sent out to space aboard the space station 'Dandelion' with a very specific mission: to test out a new Higgs Boson 'God' particle accelerator that just might be the key to humanity's survival. But when the crew, under direction from their captain Ava Hamilton, turns on the device, the Earth seemingly disappears. Realizing their coordinates haven't changed, the entire crew-including fellow engineer and Ava's boyfriend, Evan, the boyish Milka, the pious Monk, shaggy-haired ship screw-up, Mundy, and military agents Martinez and Cosbi-now fear that they are truly lost in space and have to prepare to wait out the remainder of their lives [on] this self-sustaining space station.

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"Unexpectedly, they are soon contacted by an enemy European spaceship-giving them hope and concerns at the same time. After debate, they agree [to] let the new crew onto their ship, a decision which almost immediately turns tragic when Ava's boyfriend is poisoned. As the accusations fly amidst increased tensions, the American crew decides to imprison the European astronauts. But when Mundy soon turns up dead as well, Ava must no figure out who the murderers really are…and who anyone can trust as the American crew must battle against each other, as well as with the new intruders, who are soon intent on getting the super weapon on board the ship for their own purposes back on earth."

These details line up with what we already knew about God Particle, but we'll have to wait until February 2 to find out how accurate this description is.

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